Friday, July 25, 2008

SLS Hotel puts on the glitz

The vertiginous infinity pool -- only one person has gone over the edge, Nazarian said

Even the most hard-core taco truck loving, Szechwan peppercorn-inhaling food blogger has to hang out once in a while on a patio overlooking the L.A. skyline, next to a terrifyingly cantilevered infinity pool, at the house immortalized as Vinnie Chase's pad in "Entourage." And I'm not even that hard-core anyway. So I couldn't turn down a cotton candy mojito (left) and the rest of the savory tidbits served at the launch of Sam Nazarian's SLS Hotel Thursday night. Ferran Adria-trained chef Jose Andres, who is creating the hotel's Bazaar restaurant, was there showing off some of his creations. It looks like L.A. will be seeing more molecular-style fancies here, such as a liquid olive -- a green gelatinous orb filled with olive essence, more fruity orbs that pair well with sorbet, and a heck of a lot of pure white cotton candy. The cotton candy also topped an unagi/foie gras/shiso leaf canape, while kobe beef "cheesecake" was served atop a mini-lawn (below). The SLS hotel, in the former Le Meridien hotel on La Cienega, will open in late October, and it looks like the food will certainly give the chattering classes something to chatter about.